The present invention relates to an anode active material including tin (Sn), cobalt (Co) and carbon (C) as elements, and a battery using the anode active material.
In recent years, a large number of portable electronic devices such as camcorders, cellular phones and laptop computers have been emerged, and an attempt to reduce the size and the weight of them have been made. Research and development aimed at improving the energy densities of batteries used as portable power sources of the electronic devices, specifically secondary batteries as a key device have been actively promoted. Among the batteries, a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery (for example, a lithium-ion secondary battery) can obtain a high energy density, compared to a lead-acid battery and a nickel cadmium battery which are aqueous electrolyte secondary batteries in related arts, so the improvement of the battery has been studied in all quarters.
As an anode active material used in the lithium-ion secondary battery, a carbon material having a relatively high capacity and superior cycle characteristics such as non-graphitizable carbon or graphite is broadly used. However, in consideration of a recent demand for a higher capacity, a further increase in the capacity of the carbon material presents a challenge.
In such a background, a technique of achieving a higher capacity of a carbon material through selecting a material to be carbonized and forming conditions has been developed (for example, refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. H8-315825). However, when such a carbon material is used, an anode has a discharge potential vs. lithium (Li) of 0.8 V to 1.0 V, and when a battery includes the carbon material, the discharge voltage of the battery is reduced, so a significant improvement in the energy density of the battery can be hardly expected. Moreover, there is a disadvantage that the hysteresis in the shape of a charge-discharge curve is large, thereby energy efficiency in each charge-discharge cycle is low.
On the other hand, as an anode with a higher capacity than the carbon material, an alloy material which is formed through electrochemically alloying some kind of metal with lithium and has a property of being reversibly produced and decomposed has been researched. For example, an anode with a high capacity using a Li—Al alloy or a Sn alloy has been developed, and an anode with a high capacity including a Si alloy has been developed (for example, refer to U.S. Pat. No. 4,950,566).
However, the Li—Al alloy, the Sn alloy or the Si alloy has a big disadvantage that the cycle characteristics are extremely poor, because the alloy expands or shrinks according to charge and discharge, so every time a charge-discharge cycle is repeated, the anode is pulverized.
Therefore, as a technique for improving the cycle characteristics, a technique of alloying tin or silicon (Si) for preventing the expansion of tin or silicon has been considered, and, for example, alloying iron and tin has been proposed (for example, refer to “Journal of The Electrochemical Society”, 1999, No. 146, p. 414). Moreover, Mg2Si or the like has been proposed (for example, refer to “Journal of The Electrochemical Society”, 1999, No. 146, p. 4401).
However, even if these techniques are used, an effect of improving the cycle characteristics are not sufficient, so the fact is that advantages of an anode with a high capacity which includes an alloy material are not fully used.